Writing a syndicated column in 2011 is night and day different from when we started writing for publication in the 1990's. The overriding change is the volume and immediacy of feedback. In the 1990's we would receive the occasional letter applauding or challenging our thesis, facts and motives. Today we find our email inbox and comment sections so full it is difficult to read it all.
We take our readers seriously, and even if we don't personally respond, we read and ponder their many times insightful thoughts. Ironically, as hard as we work to provide clarity through our own words, sometimes they fail to accurately convey our passion and hopes for America.
After last week's column was posted, we were accused of hoping for the collapse of the country. We couldn't be more misunderstood by a reader. We see collapse coming, and like Paul Revere we ride the countryside in the hope that the country will mobilize to meet the dangers.
Here are three reasons we are frightfully concerned about the future of the economy and country:
The first is the dedication of John Boehner to cutting deals with Barack Obama. The Republican majority wasn't returned to Congress so that they could strike a mega deal to balance the budget on the backs of the people. The growth of government must be stopped before it consumes what meager wealth the country has left. The current grand scheme as reported would increase taxes in exchange for budget cuts someday off in the future. We have seen how this bargain works. Taxes go up, but spending never goes down.
Second, the Republican frontrunner, Mitt Romney is far out of step with most Republicans on the proper role of government question. He is responsible for signing a program of socialized medicine in Massachusetts even before it was mandated by Obamacare. Through this act alone, he signaled his acceptance of the same style of big government Republicanism that made the governance of George W. Bush ultimately an economic disaster.
Third, the Democratic Party and Barack Obama individually haven't demonstrated that they can break out of a hard left ideological ghetto and govern the country. Bill Clinton, for all of his personal liabilities, moved to the center after the 1994 elections and showed he could compromise. In contrast, Obama as recently as his news conference this week, is showing that he is clinging to delusional policies as the country totters towards collapse.
With Republican Party leaders dedicated to Washington deal making and once again preparing to nominate a presidential candidate from the ranks of big government advocates, it is crystal clear the political establishment both Republican and Democrat isn't up to the task of curbing the size and scope of the problems. Both sides are invested in a system that provides perks and high salaries from the public trough.
This brings us back to our recent pessimism, America cannot continue to borrow and spend as she has in the last two decades under Bush and Obama. Unless the political establishment learns to live within its means we are headed for an inevitable economic disaster that will make 2008 and 2009 look like a walk in the park.
The only reason we write is in the hope that something we say will spark a change for good. Call us naive, but we still believe the American Republic can be saved through the dedicated work of committed citizens.
But we would be more than naïve if we didn't fully describe the looming crisis we see in the storm clouds still gathering. The economic crisis brought to our shores courtesy of political elites both Republican and Democrat isn't over. We cannot relax yet and go back to our lives in the mistaken impression that the worst has passed. Uncle Sam is currently in intensive care, and Americans can send him either to the recovery room or the morgue.
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